As is generally known, sterile surgical gowns are designed to greatly reduce, if not prevent, the transmission through the gown of liquids and biological contaminates which may become entrained therein. In surgical procedure environments, such liquid sources, include aqueous liquids such as the gown wearer's perspiration, patient liquids such as blood, salvia, perspiration and life support liquids such as plasma and saline.
Many surgical gowns were originally made of cotton or linen and were sterilized prior to their use in the operating room. These gowns, however, permitted transmission or "strike-through" of many of the liquids encountered in surgical procedures. These gowns were undesirable, if not unsatisfactory, because such "strike through" established a direct path for transmission of bacteria and other contaminates to and from the wearer of the gown. Furthermore, the gowns were costly, and, of course, laundering and sterilization procedures were required before reuse.
Disposable surgical gowns have largely replaced linen surgical gowns. Because many surgical procedures require generally a high degree of liquid repellency to prevent strike-through, disposable gowns for use under these conditions are, for the most part, made entirely from liquid repellent fabrics.
In an effort to provide greater comfort, disposable surgical gown manufacturers generally incorporate sufficient material into the construction of the surgical gown so that the gown is generally loose fitting. However, portions of the gown, such as the cuffs and collar, may be designed to form-fit about the respective portions of the wearer's body. As such, the cuffs and collar may be elastic. Elastic cuffs and collars may be formed from a variety of materials. Examples of such materials include cotton, knits and polyester knits.
In some surgical procedures, where the risk of insult to the surgical gown is low, surgical gowns having cuffs formed from liquid permeable or liquid absorbent fabrics may provide adequate protection for the wearer. However, in other surgical procedures, where the risk of insult to the surgical gown is high, additional protection may be desirable. In some instances, to provide additional protection, a glove is sometimes worn which is sized to overlap the cuff and a portion of the sleeve.
However, when the sleeve cuff is formed from liquid retentive fabrics and is over-gloved by a surgical glove, perspiration formed within the gown sleeve may collect in the cuffs. As the amount of perspiration retained in the cuff increases, the cuff material may become saturated with perspiration such that the liquid may migrate to the cuff/glove interface. Furthermore, the wearer's hand and arm movement may cause the retained perspiration to migrate beyond the cuff and into the portion of the sleeve adjacent the cuff. Strike-through may then occur when liquids generated during the surgical procedure contact the wearer's perspiration in the area of the sleeve and cuff.
Additionally, in instances where the wearer's perspiration has not migrated beyond the glove but has saturated or soaked the cuff material, there still remains the risk of the wearer being contacted by liquids which have been generated during the surgical procedure. This is so because, liquids on the outer surface of the gown sleeve may travel down the sleeve and contact the perspiration laden cuff before or during the removal of the glove and or gown.
In other instances, surgical gowns used in high insult surgical procedures may also be provided with cuffs formed from liquid repellent materials. However, liquids, generated during surgery which by-pass the glove and reside on the gown sleeve may contact the wearer during removal of the gown and/or glove.
Therefore, there exists a need for surgical gowns and methods of making the same which provides improved barrier protection and, particularly, improved barrier protection for the wearer's wrist, ankles, neck and adjacent areas of the wearer's body while at the same time avoiding the problems associated with conventional cuff and/or collar designs.